Speed Key vs. Mice

[Info-Mac]

Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10 UW 5/3/83; site uw-beaver
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!info-mac
From: info-mac@uw-beaver (info-mac)
Newsgroups: fa.info-mac
Subject: Speed Key vs. Mice
Message-ID:
Date: Sun, 25-Nov-84 21:52:12 EST
Article-I.D.: uw-beave.2314
Posted: Sun Nov 25 21:52:12 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 28-Nov-84 03:43:19 EST
Sender: yenbut@uw-beave
Organization: U of Washington Computer Science
Lines: 32

From: Wayne McGuire
In Infoworld for November 19 appears an enthusiastic review of a
product called Speed Key, sold by Koala Technologies, which is a
combination mouse and keyboard macro program for the IBM PC-compatible
Koalapad. Speed Key sells for $99, and received an "excellent" rating
in the categories of performance, documentation, ease of use, and
error handling.

Does anyone know of any good reasons why Speed Key-style
interfaces won't replace mice as cursor-moving devices? Here's an
excerpt from the review:

"We couldn't pass up making a comparison between Speed Key and
roll-around mice. Novice and experienced subjects from age 4 to adult
participated in what, by nature, was a very subjective and informal
test. Most thought it more natural to move the cursor across the
screen using the pad rather than slide a mouse across a tabletop. The
touchpad, the size of a stenographer's notebook, requires about half
the desktop space of a typical mouse. You can also operate it on your
lap (or stacked on top of last week's peanut butter sandwich). Many
users preferred to prop the pad against the bottom of the display like
a detached touch screen.

"Compared to menu-generating programs provided with most mice,
Koala's Speed Key customizer won, paws down.

"The conclusion was that a combination of Speed Key and the
Koalapad is an excellent alternative to the mouse as a link between
the user and computer."

-- Wayne
-------